The invention relates to an electronic device for interfacing between a first electronic device and a second electronic device for data transfer therebetween.
Many people have a number of personal electronic devices which they use in their daily lives, such as notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile telephones. On occasion, it can be advantageous to transfer data between these devices, for example, to synchronise diaries held in a PDA and a notebook computer or to transfer lists of telephone numbers between a mobile telephone and a notebook computer.
At present, bulk high speed transfer between such devices is achieved via a Universal Serial Bus (USB), parallel port, or Fast Infrared (FIR). Communication via USB or FIR requires the appropriate USB or FIR controller, which increases the overall cost of production of the devices. The use of a parallel port is cheaper to implement but is only capable of 8-bit data transfer and requires the use of connection cables. Furthermore, parallel ports will be phased out of such devices in due course.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an alternative solution which mitigates the above-described difficulties.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic interface device for interfacing between a first electronic device having a mechanical module connector and a second electronic device. The interface device includes a receiver/transmitter for receiving signals from and transmitting signals to the second electronic device, a decoder circuit for decoding/coding and mapping the input/output signals, and a connector for connecting to the mechanical module connector of the first electronic device.
Conveniently, the electronic interface device is implemented on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
Preferably, the receiver/transmitter permits wireless communication between the electronic interface device and the second electronic device. Conveniently, the receiver/transmitter operates in the infrared.
In use, the electronic interface device preferably is received within a slot in the first electronic device intended for a mechanical module such as a floppy disc drive, CD drive, or DVD drive.